BUTTERFLIES OF SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS

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Butterflies are sometimes called "flying flowers" a very fitting name that has a direct link to Kilpatrick's Outdoor Classroom. The students in the fifth grade science classes at Vera Kilpatrick Elementary participate in Journey North and Monarch Watch - tracking and sometimes tagging monarch butterflies on their migration to and from their wintering grounds in Mexico. While our emphasis may be the monarch, many other butterflies visit Southwest Arkansas. This site is dedicated to their fragile beauty.

Comma

The Comma's caterpillar is light green to brown with darker blotches and many branched spines. They feed on nettles, elms and hops.

There are two forms of the Comma, summer and fall. Wings of the fall form are orange in the fall with dark margins and a brown patterned underside. Both forms have a silver "comma" mark on the underside of the hind wing. Adults feed on rotting fruit, tree sap and carrion.








Cloudless Giant Sulfur


The wings of the male Giant Sulfur are clear yellow; females are yellow or white, with black spots on wing margins and with a black spot in center of the fore wing. Underside of each hind wing of both sexes has a pair of silvery spots. They are found in open spaces, disturbed ground, open brush, abandoned fields and roads. Caterpillar yellow or green with rows of small black tubercles. They feed on legumes, including sennas and clovers, by night and hide by day in a tent formed of silk and leaves.






Great Purple Hairstreak


Both males and females are iridescent blue above and black below. There are two long tails at the trailing edge of each hindwing. Parts of the underside of the belly are brushed in bright red-orange. The Great Purple Hairstreak is found in a wide range of habitats in the southern half of the U.S. and ranges south into the tropics. You can find it from spring through the fall, nectaring on flowers such as mint and Hercule's-club. The caterpillars feed only on the leaves of mistletoe.







Gulf Fritillary

The identifying marks of this butterfly are its bright red-orange uppersides and the metallic silver marks below. Gulf Fritillaries are found in open sunny meadows, fields and pastures, or anywhere there is an abundant supply of flowers, especially lantana. The caterpillars are dark gray with longitudinal orange stripes and six rows of branched black spines. Passion flower vines are their host plant.




Mourning Cloak

The caterpillar is black with red and white spots and has many spines with bristles. The larvae feed together in a silk web at first. Later they feed in groups or alone, on willows, elms, and poplar.
One of our most familiar butterflies, the Mourning Cloak can be identified by its purplish black wings with their broad, irregular yellow border. A row of iridescent blue spots are found just inside this border. Adults feed on sap flows, especially in oak trees, fermenting fruit, and occasionally on flower nectar.

Painted Lady

The catepillar of the Painted Lady has a black head and greenish yellow body with black spots and branched spines. It feeds mostly on thistles, making a nest near the top of the plant. It can sometimes be found on burdock and mallow.

The adult Painted Lady is an orange-pink color and can be identified by four small black eyespots on the margin of the hindwing. Painted Ladies can be found in open areas and grasslands. Adults sip nectar from the flowers of milkweeds and clovers.




Pipe Vine Swallowtail

The caterpillar of the Pipe Vine Swallowtail is reddish black with rows of red tubercles. It feeds on pipe vines which contain poisons that are retained by the caterpillar and passed on to the adults making them distasteful to birds.

Adult Pipe Vine Swallowtails have long black fore wings and metallic blue hindwings with short tails. The tails have a line of white spots but no red spot at the corner. The underside of each hindwing has a row of seven orange spots arranged in a semi-circle. They can be found in back yards and along roadsides. Adults feed on the nectar of many flowers, especially thistles.



Queen

The catepillar of the Queen is striped in dark brown and white with yellow spots and three pairs of filaments. It feeds on poisonous milkweeds, and the poisons are retained by the adults.

The adult Queen is red-brown with fine black veins and wide black margins on the wings. White spots dot the long fore wing. The undersides are more brown with heavier veins. They are found in open places, prairies, and river valleys. Adults often nectar at milkweeds.




Red Admiral

Red Admiral caterpillars come in a variety of colors. They may be mottled olive-green or brown with a white patch on the back and a light band on the side. Feeds on willows, poplars and cottonwoods.

Adult Red Admirals have black wings with a red stripe across the fore wings and along the base of the hind wings. There are white spots on the wing tip and a broken white line around the wings. The Red Admiral is most often found in openings in river woods or wooded swamps. The adults feed on animal droppings, sap flows, and flower nectar.





Tiger Swallowtail

The caterpillar of the Tiger Swallowtail is dark green with two large eyespots.It feeds on cottonwood, willows, wild cherry and ash.

Adult Tiger Swallowtails have yellow wings with three broad black vertical stripes and a black border. The Western Tiger Swallowtail has narrower wings than the Eastern Tiger and lacks orange on the underside. It is found in a variety of habitats, including wooded suburbs and woodlands near streams and rivers. Adults nectar on lilacs, buckeyes, thistles, and zinnias.






Variegated Fritillary

The caterpillar of the Variegated Fritillary is red-orange with stripes of alternating black and white patches with six rows of black spines. They feed on violets, passion flowers and a variety of plants in other families.

The adult of this species is an orange fritillary with angled wing margins that do not have silver markings underneath. They are found in open habitats including roadsides, and foothill meadows. The adults of the Variegated Fritillary feed on a variety of plants.

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